Conventional internal combustion engines are available in which charging of the combustion chambers with fresh air is set by at least one throttle valve. To do this, it is important to know the actual charge of the combustion chambers with air. In conventional internal combustion engines, a hot-film air mass meter (HFM) is inserted into an intake manifold upstream of the throttle valve for this purpose, by which the air mass flow through the intake manifold is able to be recorded. One trend in modern internal combustion engines, however, tends to systems which use pressure sensors instead of HFM sensors to ascertain the air charge in the combustion chambers. Among these are intake manifold sensors, boost pressure sensors and environmental pressure sensors. In such internal combustion engines it is therefore important to be able to check the plausibility, or rather the reliability of the pressure data received. The necessity of being able to identify and diagnose erroneous components, as well as possible, also comes about with a view to ever tighter exhaust gas regulations and the requirements derived from this for an on-board diagnosis.